GOVERNMENT TURNING BLIND EYE TO HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF JOB LOSSES - HOLMES

11.53.23am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 14th May 2003

The Government is turning a blind eye to the hundreds of thousands of job losses at the heart of British manufacturing and agriculture, Paul Holmes MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Minister for Work, said today.

Today's new figures from the Office of National Statistics show that in the last year 155,000 jobs have been lost in the manufacturing industry, with 52,000 lost in the agriculture and fishing industry.

Paul Holmes MP, said: "The Government is turning a blind eye to the hundreds of thousands of job losses at the heart of British manufacturing and agriculture. Although the Government maintain that unemployment figures are good, they cannot mask the steep decline being felt in key industries."

" "The Government has failed to use the strong period of growth in recent years to deal with the lack of competitiveness caused by the overvaluation of the pound. And they have failed to correct the imbalance between regional economies.

"Ministers must get to grips with the real economy of our towns and rural areas. Small scale factory closures have as detrimental an effect on the local community as the high-profile collapses that make news headlines."

ENDS

Notes to editors

Today's figures from Labour Market Statistics May 2003 (ONS)

155,000 manufacturing jobs lost in the last year.

20,000 finance & business services jobs lost in the last year.

52,000 agriculture & fishing jobs lost in the last year.